Death on the Nile

Rating

Director

Kenneth Branagh

Screenplay

Michael Green (Novel: Agatha Christie)

Length

2h 07m

Starring

Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, Letitia Wright, Susannah Fielding

MPAA Rating

PG-13

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Review

A great book can bear the burden of multiple cinematic translations, but not all books are designed for such efforts. Death on the Nile proves that treading the same ground can’t always work out.

There are certain authors whose books are ripe for multiple adaptations, not because prior works were inferior, but because they have stories that are universal and each new re-telling can bring something fresh and exciting to the material. That said, Agatha Christie’s novels aren’t easily re-adapted. There’s the thorny issue of the mystery already being known. For books like Little Women and Pride & Prejudice, the stories don’t work the same way as those in Christie’s novels. They aren’t enigmas needing to be solved. Murder mysteries lose something in multiple attempts because many already know the end. And, even if they don’t, a previously well done version is a perfectly acceptable frame of reference. Christie fans aren’t going to be turned away by something feeling a little more antiquated. Her novels were written throughout the first two thirds of the 21st Century, so they already have an old-fashioned feeling to them.

Christie’s novel Death on the Nile is set on a steamboat traveling along the Nile in Egypt in the 1930s. There, a wealthy couple (Gal Gadot & Armie Hammer) are plagued by a jealous ex (Emma Mackey) who joins them along with several of the couple’s friends and associates. When Gadot’s Linnet is murdered, suspicion falls on Mackey’s Jacqueline. Yet, the tidy little mystery isn’t so easily satisfied as the legendary Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) examines each of the passengers one by one to see if he can solve the crime.

What is the purpose of re-adapting familiar works? It could be to bring the material to younger audiences or perhaps to find some new aspect of the original work that remains unexplored or might lead to a fresh interpretation. Whatever the reason is, this is Branagh’s second attempt at a Christie adaptation and, like his prior Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile is a bit of a mixed bag.

One thing Branagh’s films have done well is evoking a sense of glamor and style. Death on the Nile is nothing if not luxurious and those scenes set in the desert or along the Nile are gorgeously filmed and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos needs to be lauded for them. That said, his interiors are often either poorly or ghastly lit, neither in equal measure. A climactic scene near the end of the film is so dark that it begs the question: why? A sense of suspense? That could be done quite easily without an atonally ham-fisted lighting choice.

If you’ve seen the John Gillermin original, you have little reason to catch this reboot. The mystery, once spoiled, isn’t easy to forget and, like Murder on the Orient Express, it’s among the best known of Christie’s works. Is the desire to bring new viewers to Christie’s novels? I can’t see how that’s possible. I suppose now that Branagh is so far removed form his Shakespearean period, he has to try something else, but for the second time in as many films, he’s failed to improve upon, or even come close to, the original.

Sure, there’s a twist for the third murder in the film as it’s not who’s expected, but the scene is played to evoke an emotional response from the audience. Yet, it ultimately feels pointless and maudlin. Another change is the familiar Captain Hastings, who features prominently in the book and the first film and is one of Poirot’s most commonly seen associates. He is utterly absent this time out, replaced by a character from Murder on the Orient Express and the reasons seem indefensible, especially in the framework of the narrative’s already complex and fascinating storyline.

The tweaks to characters to give them a more modernistic feel are refreshing, but mishandled. The modernism doesn’t quite feel anachronistic, which is a blessing, but not all of the changes work. The best example of this is the Sophie Okonedo character who is now a jazz singer and not a romance novelist as in the original film and the book. It’s not obvioius if they cast Okonedo and expected her to sing like a 20s jazz artist and she couldn’t or if they always intended to take old jazz recordings and put her face to the voice of others, but it’s handled in such a way that the poor sound quality feels utterly out of place for a film as polished as this one otherwise is. And the less said about Branagh’s vain attempts to re-write Poirot’s story by making him a war hero as well as introducing a love interest, the better. The rest of the cast is relatively game and kudos especially to Russell Brand, Dawn French, and Jennifer Saunders for their performances.

Is there a point to re-adapting these already-familiar films and novels? Branagh doesn’t successfully answer that question, seemingly trading on that sense of familiarity to sell tickets to the remake. It’s similar to the reason why something like Citizen Kane or The Sixth Sense couldn’t easily be remade for modern audiences. Half the fun is getting to the end and if you already know the conclusion, the films have less of a spark. Death on the Nile very much pales in comparison for that reason, but not that reason alone. This just feels like second-hand Christie and that’s not going to impress the core audience needed to make these pictures a success.

Oscar Prospects

Potentials: Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design

Review Written

October 5, 2022